Real change must start with individuals,' Dalai Lama tells summit

September 28, 2009

Vancouver Sun - Monday, September 28, 2009
BY AMY O'BRIAN

VANCOUVER - The Dalai Lama closed the opening session of the 2009 Vancouver
Peace Summit with a call for a global promotion of compassion, and an
increased emphasis on the promotion of women to positions of influence.

"Some people may call me a feminist," the Dalai Lama said quietly.

"But females have more sensitivity about others' pain and suffering."

The hour-long discussion between the five speakers focused on achieving
world peace through personal peace. Topics of education, self-awareness, and
compassion were the focus of the conversation.

"Real change must start with individuals, then family, then community," the
Dalai Lama said as the session began.

"We really need to embrace the concept of the whole world as 'we'."

More than a thousand people attended the Sunday morning event, World Peace
Through Personal Peace. Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean appeared
via video.

Jean described the gathering of global spiritual leaders in Vancouver as "a
dazzling constellation of global change agents."

She called on the guest speakers and the crowd to use the Peace Summit as a
catalyst for change.

"You have a unique opportunity to dream big," she said.

"Please be inspired. The world is counting on you. Peace is within our
grasp."

Victor Chan, friend of the Dalai Lama and founding director of the Dalai
Lama Center for Peace and Education, confirmed from the stage that
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will not be attending the Peace Summit due
to an injured back.

Chan joked that the injury may have been indirectly caused by Tutu's love of
loud music and dancing. Tutu is 78 years old.

Earlier this morning, Hoshen Chi stood patiently outside the doors to the
Chan Centre, waiting to enter the building.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Chi, who has wanted to see the
Dalai Lama since he was 15 years old.

"I want to see what he's like," said the 26-year-old college student. "I'd
like to hear what he says about personal peace, because my life is in a bit
of turmoil right now."

Tom St. Clair and his wife, Marra, came from California to celebrate their
one-year anniversary at the Peace Summit.

St. Clair has seen the Dalai Lama once before, but he said he wanted his
wife to experience it.

"It's about him, but it's also about the collective energy of the people,"
he said.

"The people who go to see the Dalai Lama all bring a sense of peace and
compassion, so all that energy is a really special experience."

On Tuesday the Dalai Lama will speak at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown
Vancouver, which includes a conversation with Maria Shriver.

In advance of the Peace Summit, the Dalai Lama Nobel Peace Prize Laureate,
the in advance of Sunday's Peace Summit, the Dalai Lama was guest editor of
weekend edition of The Vancouver Sun.

The Vancouver Sun will be donating 10 cents for every special edition sold
over the weekend to the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, a
non-political, non-religious, Vancouver-based charitable organization
focused on fostering personal and global peace.